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Riot Training Heats Up in Linton
17 July 2007
Linton-based soldiers were attacked in June by water bombs, pine cones, pieces of wood and anything else protestors could lay their hands on.
Anyone visiting the camp would have been forgiven for thinking a riot had broken out, but it was Whiskey Company’s riot training exercises.
Lieutenant Anika Tiplady says the training exercises are conducted several times a year, and always prior to any overseas deployment.
“It’s one of our core skills as part of a cavalry battalion. The scenarios build up from a low level then as the training continues it gets a lot more intensive. That’s how we do it, we step all our training – we start off nice and easy and build it up,” she says.
There were two different scenarios – in the first, the area between the LAV hangers was designated the access to a council building and the civilian rioters were trying to get through to protest the government had not provided food and the locals were starving. In the second scenario, sited at the camp’s back gate, protestors were trying to gain access to the local river for fishing and the soldiers’ job was to prevent this for security reasons.
Various defensive devices were used by the soldiers during the training, including batons, face masks and shields – both the three-foot and six-foot riot shields.
“The shorter shields are used by the commanders as they are more manoeuvrable. The commanders also used the PRR – personal role radios. We had the stock standard weapons with us but we didn’t want to use weapons against civilians so we had them slung behind us for use as a last resort.
“We also made use of the LAV and that was very effective. We were focused on incorporating the use of the LAV into our training because it is how they are employed in a riot situation,” says Lt Tiplady.
“I haven’t deployed in a live riot situation but we get a lot out of being on the receiving end of intensive rioting during training and it also tests the commanders in controlling the troops in such a high intensity environment. It’s good to use the vehicles for getting to grips with the situation. We don’t do riot training all the time but the guys enjoy it whenever we do.”
The protestors became more and more vocal and proactive in their attempts to get through to the building as the training escalated, and they used a number of projectiles, including water bombs, pine cones, pieces of wood and anything else they could lay their hands on – as would happen in a real situation.
“The projectiles were used to distract the soldiers and to make them aware of certain things that can happen in a riot. It teaches them to keep their eyes open and look for what is coming because in a riot there are often more dangerous projectiles. The guys in the LAV had good observation posts to see if anyone was about to use weapons or if a large group was coming,” says Lt Tiplady.
This page was last reviewed on 26 July 2007 and is current.
